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A broad coalition of spanning the political spectrum submitted a letter of opposition to separate leaked proposals from Senators Burr and Feinstein to modify surveillance laws in the wake of the Senate narrowly voting down the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015. Both proposals would extend PATRIOT Act authorities without ending domestic bulk collection or providing critical FISA Court transparency, while giving the government new powers to require private companies retain user data to aid surveillance.

This a statement for the record, originally presented by CDT at the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board workshop on surveillance programs operated under Patriot Act Section 215 and FISA Section 702.

More than 30 privacy, free market, civil liberties and open government groups have issued a letter calling on Senators to oppose the Lieberman-Collins Cyber Security Act and support amendments to address privacy and civil liberties concerns.

On May 26, the House and Senate renewed three controversial provisions of law related to the USA PATRIOT Act that were set to expire the next day. The renewal was passed in the form of an amendment to an unrelated bill, S. 990, that itself temporarily extended authorities of the Small Business Administration. Despite efforts by individual Senators to introduce modifications to the Act’s intelligence authorities, the final bill simply renewed the expiring provisions until June 1, 2015 without changes.

Dear Senators Lieberman, Collins, and Carper:
The Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will soon consider the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act, S. 3480. We are privacy, civil liberties and civil rights groups writing to express our concerns about the legislation. Changes are needed to ensure that cybersecurity measures do not unnecessarily infringe on free speech, privacy, and…